A 4-day strength block built on submaximal percentage work around the four main barbell lifts, with a heavy top set each session.
Intermediate lifters who want a repeatable, percentage-driven strength progression on squat, bench, deadlift, and press.
Expected commitment: 60-75 min per workout, 4 workouts per week.
Prerequisites: A known or estimated 1RM (or a recent heavy top set) on the main barbell lifts, and access to a barbell, rack, and plates.
Squat as the main lift; posterior-chain and quad accessories.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbell Back Squat | 3 | 3-5 | 85% |
| Romanian Deadlift | 3 | 6-8 | RPE 8 |
| Leg Press | 3 | 8-12 | RPE 8 |
| Leg Curl | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
| Standing Calf Raise | 4 | 8-12 | RPE 9 |
Bench press as the main lift; balanced upper-body pressing and pulling.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbell Bench Press | 3 | 3-5 | 85% |
| Weighted Pull-Up | 3 | 5-8 | RPE 8 |
| Standing Overhead Press | 3 | 6-8 | RPE 8 |
| Barbell Row | 3 | 8-10 | RPE 8 |
| Triceps Pushdown | 3 | 10-15 | RPE 9 |
Deadlift as the main lift; unilateral and quad-biased accessories.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbell Deadlift | 3 | 3-5 | 85% |
| Front Squat | 3 | 6-8 | RPE 8 |
| Bulgarian Split Squat | 3 | 8-10 | RPE 8 |
| Leg Extension | 3 | 12-15 | RPE 9 |
| Seated Calf Raise | 4 | 12-15 | RPE 9 |
Overhead press as the main lift; incline pressing and back volume.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standing Overhead Press | 3 | 3-5 | 85% |
| Incline Barbell Bench Press | 3 | 6-8 | RPE 8 |
| Lat Pulldown | 3 | 8-12 | RPE 8 |
| Barbell Curl | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
| Face Pull | 3 | 15-20 | RPE 9 |
Each session opens with one main barbell lift for sets of 3 to 5, started around 85% of your one-rep max: heavy enough to build strength, light enough at 3 reps to leave a couple in reserve. Sets of five at that load are close to a hard five, which is the top of the range and the point where the load goes up. Strength is built by accumulating quality work, not by chasing a max every session.
The four-day layout gives squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press their own dedicated day, so each main lift is trained hard once a week with a full recovery window before it comes around again. The accessory work after the main lift reinforces that pattern and covers the rest of the body at moderate reps.
On MuscleBuddy the 85% is where you start, not a percentage the app recalculates each week: the main lifts and the accessories both run with double progression. Build from 3 reps toward 5 on every set, and once you reach 5 across the board the next session adds a small increment. If you come up short of the bottom of the rep range three sessions in a row, MuscleBuddy takes about 10% off that lift and you build back up from there.
The block runs four working weeks with no deload week written in. MuscleBuddy eases a week for you when your recovery scores trend down, and you can take a deload week yourself whenever you need one. This is a strength program first; expect steady barbell numbers rather than a pump-focused hypertrophy stimulus.
MuscleBuddy auto-advances weights, tracks every set, and adjusts when you stall.
Start this program for free with MuscleBuddy